Jehoiada the Priest

Jehoiada (Hebrew: יהוידע‎) is a figure in the Hebrew Bible, serving as High Priest during the reigns of Ahaziah, Athaliah, and Joash. Ahaziah’s sister, Princess Jehosheba, married Jehoiada, making him the king’s brother-in-law (2 Chronicles 22:11). Shortly after Ahaziah’s death in Megiddo, Athaliah seized the opportunity to usurp the throne by slaughtering the royal descendants of Judah.

When Athaliah was slaughtering the royal princes, Jehosheba and Jehoiada rescued the infant Joash, the sole surviving heir to the throne. They hid him in the Temple for six years. In the seventh year, Jehoiada garnered the support of the Levites, the captains of the Carites and the guards, and the tribal leaders of Israel. He then brought Joash out, and they made Joash king. Jehoiada immediately ordered Athaliah to be taken outside the Temple area and put to death (2 Kings 11:1-16; 2 Chronicles 22:10–23:15).

Jehoiada guided the young King Joash in righteous rule for 35 years, undertaking the restoration of the proper worship of the LORD. He also made a covenant between the king and the people with the LORD, that they should be His people. The people then pulled down the temple of Baal, broke its altars, shattered its idols, and killed the priest of Baal. Jehoiada also appointed overseers to manage the Temple. Throughout Jehoiada’s lifetime, King Joash, under his teaching, consistently did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. Jehoiada and the king worked together to repair the Temple and provide it with all the necessary articles (2 Kings 12:4–15). Jehoiada also “made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people, that they should be the Lord’s people” (2 Chronicles 23:16). Jehoiada died at the advanced age of 130. Because he had “done good in Israel toward God and His house,” he was honorably buried in the City of David (2 Chronicles 24:16).

Sadly, as soon as Jehoiada died, his positive influence on the king vanished. King Joash listened to the leaders of Judah and gradually abandoned the LORD. Later, when Jehoiada’s son Zechariah rebuked the people for their unfaithfulness to God, King Joash actually ordered him to be put to death (2 Kings 11:17–12:16; 2 Chronicles 23:16–24:22).